i already forget how i used to feel about you

i just watched the arena on ch5. 2 words i learnt from the msia cup all those years ago, referee kayuuuuuuuu!

the motion was "Hey good-looking, you're the winner: Good looks triumph effort", proposition team was Loyang Secondary, opposition was RI.

The motion was so skewered in favour of RI, I don't understand how they could have failed to use it to their advantage. First, the motion presupposes good looks as pivotal to success. Next, it credits good looks as being more important than effort for you to be a winner.

What the proposition argued was that good looks gave an added advantage. The opposition agreed with that but insisted that it cannot stand alone. But instead of developing their points and setting the limits for the discussion, they went along with the proposition's perimeters. They continued arguing that good looks are important but effort is too.

The motion does not ask whether good looks are an added advantage, but whether good looks are more important than effort. There is an obvious difference which RI failed to expand upon. They should have explicitly stated that good looks may be advantageous, maybe even significant, but definitely not pivotal and not more important than effort. It is like steak v. sauce. The sauce helps make the steak more delicious but who can refute that the steak is more important than the sauce?

Maybe RI did touch on it but they didn't focus on it. And they certainly did not emphasise on their interpretation of the motion. If they had, they would have defeated Loyang's arguments flat once and for all. I think they failed because they didn't set the ambits of the discussion clearly enough, thus letting Loyang lead them by the nose.

That was Loyang's plus factor, they stated their stand very clearly. Comparing 2 people with equal effort, the better-looking one would be more successful. This to me, was clearly not what the motion meant, but that was the most favourable interpretation that Loyang could have come up with to win. Given their disadvantage having been given such a side (or at least I think it is a disadvantage) they made the best they could out of a losing situation. Kudos to them for that.

Other than that, Loyang was an embarrassment. Bad grammer, bad pronunciation, bad delivery, bad rebuttals. Most of all, they were unbelievably RUDE. Instead of witty retorts, they resorted to sneering and rolling of eyes and a lot more. They had so many hand actions I couldn't focus on what they were saying. They were DANCING. Literally, like some hip-hop dance. They had fake accents. They were goodness-gracious-me, irritating, to put it mildly.

The RI boys on the other hand spoke really well. They were polite, clear, witty, slamming the proposition without insulting them, GOOD GRAMMER, although the rebutting left much to be desired. Although they let Loyang set the perimeters for the debate, I felt that they put up a really good fight. Their arguments could have been stronger and more lucid, but even then I felt (and my whole family, that makes almost 10) that RI was obviously the better team.

Substance-wise, both teams weren't too good, but I thought that RI addressed more of Loyang's arguments, whereas Loyang couldn't seem to grasp what RI was trying to say, which to me was ridiculous since the RI boys were quite clear. I honestly felt that RI was superior even in terms of content.

So even though they could have done better, I honestly thought that RI should have won. Their speakers were so good. Especially that little cute malay boy with the indian accent. (I thought he was Indian, but his dad's Malay.) He was REALLY good. I was extremely impressed by him. He is a fantastic speaker. Of course RI was not fantastic but Loyang was really bad.

What's more, the panel of judges was made up of a lecturer for drama, an ex-beauty queen, a plasic surgeon and a journalist. Out of 4, 1 is a drama-sucker, 2 use beauty to make a living. How unfair is that? They seem so entranced by the dramatic sarcasm that was so blatantly rude. I mean, witty sarcasm is one thing, rude sarcasm is another altogether. My family was so put off by how rude Loyang was, with their constant flipping cards into opponents face, constant fidgeting and shifting weight from one leg to another, bopping, rapper-style hand actions and whatever else. Which was why we were all stunned, incredulous that the judges actually appreciated such insolence and discourtesty.

What a bullshit decision.